This Week's Adventures

I started an online class on how to get published. So far so good. There is lot's of info, there have only been to lessons so far. Part of the lessons have you writing, in fact lesson two has you writing a letter to the editor, and sending it in. I am enjoying the class. The information for Gregory's class finally came. so now he can get started on getting the rest of the credits he needs to graduate. Kyle is going to have to do some extra classes to earn the ret of the credits he needs to graduate. I will have to call his guidance counselor and find out what he can do. Talena and Mark have found a house to rent and moved this weekend. It is a cute house.

Sorry this is so short, I have a headache and am having trouble putting my thought together. Anyway, everyone

Live fully......

Last Week

Last week was a busy week. Tuesday I had to go to the photography studio and pick out Greg's yearbook photo, also ordered other pictures. Wednesday I had to pick up my sister-in-law from the doctors, she had a test done, everything was clear, drop my step-daughter at work, it seems there was something else I just can't remember what it was. Thursday was fairly quiet, thank goodness. Friday Jerry worked a day shift, so it was very quiet arond the house, at least for the morning. Saturday I spent the day over at my freinds house. Then we went to a car cruise. No, the cars didn't cruise, they were all parked, the people all cruised around looking at the cars. There were some neat cars. we are planning on going again.

Anyway, that was my week, kind of busy, maybe next week will be more interesting. Doesn't mean busy, just different.

Live fully....

Settled into a routine

Now that we have all settled into the routine here, life doesn't seem as hectic. The boys are getting up and out the door on time, getting homework done,and all the things that keep us on time. Kyle has been going to work with his dad on the weekends, Greg is kind of looking for work, they both need a job. I do like having a routine around here. It keeps things on an even keel and fairly quiet. It doesn't give me much to write about, that's ok though, I will find other things to write about.

One of the things that has become part of the routine is playing of Dungeons and Dragons. Yes, you have read that right, Greg is the Dungeon Master, and the rest of us have picked out our alter egos to play with. What I find interesting is that those that are fairly confident and comfortable with themselves have only one character, those that are having problems at home or aren't as confident with themselves have made several characters. I like the idea of these role playing games, I get to see how these kids really think, what their personality is, what they think of themselves. The ones that have low self esteem have a tendency to pick on those that seem more confident in themselves. Because I play with them I find that they open up to me more than they do their own parents, in a way I like it, it gives me a chance to explain why their parents do the things they do, and give an opinion that they hadn't thought about before. It also makes me kind of sad that they can't be as open with their parents as they are with me, and I do get their respect. This should actually go on the other blog of Serve Well, you can get there through the link on the sidebar.

That's it for now, will write again soon. Until then...

Live Fully.....

More Truck Saga

Kyle's truck is finally done for, the brakes are gone. He went to get an estimate on getting them fixed, thinking that maybe it would only be a couple hundred at the most, he came home with an estimate of a thousand dollars and that's just a beginning. We all knew that their dad had used old parts when fixing up the trucks, I didn't realize that he had neglected the brakes on Kyle's truck. He is going to save his money so that he can replace the head on the ranger as soon as he can. Greg is going to work to replace the engine in the '62 Ford E100 van that we have. Their dad would have been better off using the money to fix the vehicles that we had than to fix trucks that he had. Especially since those trucks were already on their last wheels before he decided that they would be good enough for the boys. At least the two vehicles we have will run good once fixed, only because some parts were never meant to be replaced with used parts. Greg sold his truck already for only one hundred dollars, I'm not sure what Kyle will be able to get for his truck. Michael should be the one to pay to get these vehicles working, the boys worked for him for a year to get the trucks that he had for them running. Of which, neither ran for the length of time that each put into them. Of course I don't think he will pay to have the ranger and the van fixed. Kyle was going to work with his dad this weekend so that he could earn money to fix the ranger, getting there is now a bit of a problem. Everything happens for a reason.

Greg needs one more credit to graduate this year, above what classes he is already taking. BYU has independent learning, including high school credits, so I've signed him up for a couple of courses. One is an art course the other is a photo shop course. Both of which should help him in getting closer to his chosen goal of being a maker of games, videos, and other animated stuff.

Kyle had his year book pictures taken this week, I am anxious to see what it looks like. The pictures that I will be sending of him will be the ones he gets from ROTC this year. He looks so good in his uniform. This year is going to go so fast. I know that the boys are looking forward to getting out of high school and going on with their plans for adulthood. It will go by to fast for me, my little boys are growing up.

That's it for this week, hope the next week will find everyone in good spirits.

Live fully....

Another busy week

We have had another busy week here. Greg had to have his year book pictures taken. Neither one us was sure that we wanted to order them, but we came out of the session with such a good feeling about the photographer that we may just get a few pictures to share. Kyle got his uniform for ROTC this week, the only thing that he has to have altered is the sleeves of the jacket, which has to be down at a tailors near the school. Next week he goes in to have his senior pictures taken, not sure if we will order pictures or wait until he has pictures taken in ROTC, those always turn out decent. We will have to see how the photographer does. Because they go to different schools they have different studios doing the pictures. It will be interesting to find out how the two different studios compare. Greg liked having his pictures taken because the photographer was an artist, not trying to take a quick snapshot.

I am going to watch the granddaughters tomorrow. This is going to be fun. Evidently Lavieya is talking, everyone has heard her say something except me. She keeps her fingers in her mouth and refuses to say anything. Maybe tomorrow I can get her to talk for me. Of course Gynesis talks enough for the both of them. And, yes as soon as I have the most recent pictures developed I will post them.

All the things that I have planned to make this year, I now have all the yarn and thread for them. And even though I have yet to make a significant dent in these projects, I am confident that I will finish them this year. I have decided to change the pattern for the afghan that I am making for Ethan, he's a little old for puppy dogs on his afghan.

That is all for now.

Everyone,
Live fully......

Military Service

I have been listening to some of the reports about the woman who is protesting outside President Bush's ranch in Texas. While having a loved one die in a war is never pleasant, nor do I want anyone to die for any reason, it does happen. The men and women that have volunteered to serve in the military understand that they could end up fighting somewhere. They fight to protect our way of life and our rights, we have the right to say anything we want no matter how dumb it sounds, we have the right to protest what we don't like, even if no one else agrees with us we have the right to our own opinions. My youngest son is going into the Navy when he graduates this spring, his recruiter asked me what I thought about his going into military service. I told him that while I was very proud of his choice at wanting to serve, I was also very afraid that he might have to fight and possibly die. Yet I would rather he serve and maybe die or get injured protecting our rights than die here in fear because terrorism wasn't stopped. This Nation is one of the few that has an all volunteer armed service, some countries require that their young people serve in the military whether they want to or not. How good can a military be if some of the people in it don't want to fight? If we want our freedoms, there have to be sacrifices made, ask those that have fought if our freedoms are worth the fight. I think they are. Freedom isn't free.

Live well...

First week of school

What a week this has been. Both of the boys seem to like school. Greg has managed to arrange his schedule so that he has half days. Now he just needs to get a job. As for his truck, that is going to require a lot of fixing so he is going to get rid of this truck and fix up the old van that we have. I know it sounds strange but there is less to fix on the van to get it running, it needs an engine, than to keep buying parts for the truck that his dad fixed for him. Kyle has meetings with his recruiter every other week, it's supposed to help keep him on track with homework and graduation. He is doing everything that they have asked him to do, which is a very good thing. His truck will eventually fall apart, he described the way their dad fixed the trucks as Greg's being fixed with glue and his being fixed with super-glue. Yes we do have a truck that needs some fixing, I believe it is just replacing the head, anyway it will be a better vehicle for him. If their dad has just been patient he could have paid for the parts needed in the vehicles that we had and it would have been better for the boys. They still need to find jobs to pay for insurance and gas.

I have been writing in my journal on an almost daily basis, and it is getting easier to meet the word count that I am trying for. Jerry put a new operating system on the desk top in our room, I am still trying to find my files for my book. The computer now has two desk tops which it never had before, I'm thinking that I will have to go through his desk top to find all my files. This is very frustrating as I had been writing chapter nine and hadn't finished it yet so it hadn't been published to its blog yet. If I can't find it I will have to try to rewrite it. Oh well, everything happens for a reason. I'm sure that I will find the files, I just haven't tried to hard yet. I have been feeling very creative lately, and not just in writing, I have been doing a lot of crocheting and coming up with my own ideas on modifying patterns. I credit, at least in part, with my journal writing, it seems to have opened up the gates to the creative process. I learned a new stitch in crochet and have started a poncho for myself, and have had the idea of using this stitch to make smaller ponchos for Gynesis and Lavieya. I am so excited about starting them, I have to get measurements first though so that they will at least fit them.

I know that this rambles a bit, ok more than a bit, but this is the way my mind is working. That is a scary thought. Anyway, the more I write the better this and my stories will get, so please bear with me.

Now I need to get on my soapbox for a bit and put in my two cents on regulating of game content. Now I will agree that there is content that children of various ages should not see, whether it is in games, tv or movies, that is why there is a rating system. The ratings give us a guide line as to what the content of the movie or tv show, that way if there is something that we don't want our children to watch we can either not take to the movie or block it on the tv. There are ratings for games as well, if the rating is mature, then the content isn't meant for anyone under the age of eighteen, if parents don'e want their kids to have these games then they shouldn't buy them for the kids. And yes stores are not supposed to sell games to kids that have the mature rating on them. If we don't want our kids to be exposed to the content in the games then we as parents shouldn't bring it into our homes, we should also make any one that would buy games for our kids understand that we don't want mature rated games for our kids. Parents have a responsibility to their kids, what they see, what they hear, what they say. Do we really need a government control to do what we should be doing already?

Ok, so now I'm off my soapbox. I hope that this week has treated all of you well.

Live well...